Suppressing fatty acid synthase by type I interferon and chemical inhibitors as a broad spectrum anti-viral strategy against SARS-CoV-2

SARS-CoV-2 is an emerging viral pathogen and a major global public health challenge since December of 2019, with limited effective treatments throughout the pandemic. As part of the innate immune response to viral infection, type I interferons (IFN-I) trigger a signaling cascade that culminates in the activation of hundreds of genes, known as interferon stimulated genes (ISGs), that collectively foster an antiviral state. We report here the identification of a group of type I interferon suppressed genes, including fatty acid synthase (FASN), which are involved in lipid metabolism. Overexpression of FASN or the addition of its downstream product, palmitate, increased viral infection while knockout or knockdown of FASN reduced infection. More importantly, pharmacological inhibitors of FASN effectively blocked infections with a broad range of viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 and its variants of concern. Thus, our studies not only suggest that downregulation of metabolic genes may present an antiviral strategy by type I interferon, but they also introduce the potential for FASN inhibitors to have a therapeutic application in combating emerging infectious diseases such as COVID-19.

[Short-form of the Iranian version of the problem areas in diabetes scale [IR-paid -5]: validity and reliability]

Introduction: The Problem Area in Diabetes [PAID] questionnaire is a tool used to identify depression and psychological distress caused by diabetes. Considering the importance of rapid screening of these patients in primary care, PAID-5 can be very helpful in this regard. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the reliability and validity of PAID-5 for the first time in Iran. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on 110 eligible patients with diabetes, admitted to Imam Hussein Hospital diabetic clinic in the city of Shahroud for one year. Having employed short and long forms of the PAID questionnaire, the present study, then, used various statistical tools including exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha coefficient, Roc Curve, T-Test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient to analyze the collected data. Results: Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the PAID-5 was 0.75. The correlation coefficient between the average scores of PAID-5 and PAID-20 was 0.887. The results of exploratory factor analysis for PAID-5 explain 51 % of the total variance. The cut-off point obtained for the PAID-5 questionnaire was 8. Conclusion: The results show that the short form, like the long form, enjoys appropriate reliability and validity to identify diabetes-related depression and emotional distress in Iranian diabetic patients